An Area of God's Nature

In my message last week I pointed out that the Fruit of the Spirit is a perfect picture of God and Christ. My message this week concerns a specific area of the Nature of God - His long-suffering.


The psalmist put it this way:

"The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy" (Psalm 145:8, NKJV).

This area of God's nature is revealed through the prophet Habakkuk. By studying the first two Chapters of the Book of Habakkuk we learn how God rules the nations of the world in time of war as well as in peace.

Habakkuk and his burden

The Bible says very little about Habakkuk. From his writing revealed that he was a prophet of deep emotional strength. He was also a poet quite similar to the psalmist David. The only thing we know about him is when he lived and what was going on in his country (Judah) during the reign of king Josiah (around 630 BC).

During that period of time the nation of Judah was enjoying prosperity. But as the material prosperity was up the moral level went down. There were violence in the streets, there were injustice, people got away with crime and the law was paralyzed. Habakkuk complained about the moral disorganization around him and cried out to God for help - how long would God allow this moral decay to continue? He prayed for almost ten years about the situation until he was fed up with praying.

Habakkuk's prophetic prayer

Not only Habakkuk cried out to the Almighty God for justice, he also complained, protested and questioned God:

"How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abound" (Hab. 1:2, 3, NIV).

Notice that Habakkuk prayed with a question mark at the end of each sentence. This is a perfect example of a prophetic prayer. Prophetic prayer is a prayer often prayed by all Old Testament prophets including the psalmists and Job. Most of us want to know how to pray effectively, how to get answers from God and how to hear God. Well, by praying the prophetic prayer, all prophets heard from God and got their answers from God, even though sometimes God didn't answer them the way they wanted.

How Habakkuk prayed the prophetic prayer?

Habakkuk started by telling God what he thought of Him. He was utterly honest with God. Anyway, whether he was honest with God or not, God knew his heart.

The Lord said to Isaiah, "Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear" (Isaiah 65:24, NIV).

Study the Bible and you'll see again and again that the prophets of God dared to speak to God that we wouldn't dare to speak to our parents! They understood that when you are honest with God you are likely to get through to God - because God hates hypocrites (Matt. 6:2).

Interrogative prayer

Another form of prophetic prayer is interrogative prayer. The psalmist always prayed interrogative prayers:

"Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide in times of trouble" (Ps. 10:1, NKJV)?

"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning" (Ps. 22:1)?

Job also prayed many intterogative prayers:

"Why then have You brought me out of the womb? Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me" (Job 10:18).

"Why do You hide Your face, and regard me as Your enemy" (Job 13:24)?

I heard people complained that God never speak to them. My suggestion is that they try to ask God something like this:

"Lord, is there anything in my life you don't like"? You'll be amazed how quickly you get an answer from God!

I believe the fact that God allows Himself to be questioned by His followers is an indication of His long-suffering, loving kindness, mercy and grace.

God's first answer to Habakkuk

God's first reply brought little comfort to Habakkuk. He told Habakkuk He was raising up the Babylonians to bring judgment to Judah soon:

"For Iam going to do something in you days that you would not believe even if you were told" (Hab. 1:5).

Habakkuk was not happy because in his own eyes the righteous God should not allow the Babylonians to execute judgment upon a people (Judah) more righteous than they:

"Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves" (Hab. 1:13)?

To Habakkuk it looked as if the wicked were getting away with it and overcoming those who are apparently more righteous than themselves.

God's second answer to Habakkuk and to us

Just as in Chapter One the Lord said to Habakkuk that he needed a larger view of what He would do, in Chapter Two the Lord said he needed a longer view of what He would do. Habakkuk must wait for the appointed time (Hab. 2:3). There would come a day He would deal with the Babylonians who did two things that God hated - greed and pride. These are the two things that will destroy any nation.

The Lord is saying the same thing to Christians today. In the end the tyrant will fall; in the end the wrong will be put right; in the end the wicked will perish. The mill of God though grinds slowly but we'll soon see His righteous work prevails in the end. No one will get away with anything unjust and unrighteous and still be found blameless. They may get away with the police; they may get away with their parents or their bosses or the Income Tax inspectors. But they will not get away anything before God.

"Woes" for the unrighteous

The little word "woe" appears five times in Chapter Two. "Woe" is actually a curse word, the opposite of of "woe" is "blessed". Every Old Testament prophet used both words. But "woe" is a word you rarely hear from the pulpit today because the prophetic Word of God is rare in the days of Samuel (1 Sam. 3:1) as well as today.

In my opinion the five "woes" mentioned here are so relevant to the whole question of human-rights in the world today. Much of the Bible is not only written for God's people but also for others.

1. "Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion" (Hab. 2:6, NIV).

My paraphrase says, "Woe to those who get what they want by force". The Lord said, "Those who plunder you will be plundered" (Jeremiah 30:16, NIV).

2. "Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain ...." (Hab. 2:9).

3. "Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by crime" (Hab. 2:12).

My paraphrase says, "Woe to him who builds a city by exploited slave labor".

The hanging-garden of Babylon was built by God's people taken from Judah and enslaved by Nebuchadnezzar.

4. "Woe to him who give drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk ...." (Hab. 2:15).

One of the things that the Babylonians did was to make those people they conquered drunk so that they would commit orgies in front of them - for their own entertainment.

5. "Woe to him who says to wood, 'Come to life!' or to lifeless stone, 'Wake up!" (Hab. 2:19).

My paraphrase says, "Woe to him who makes an image of God and makes it speak!".

Images of God cannot speak because it has no breath in it. This type of images includes an image of God in your mind that does not exit.

Habakkuk was told to be silent before God because God knows what He is doing and all His ways are just. We are on earth but God is in Heaven - His holy temple. God would not be mocked; the Babylonians would certainly be judged more severely than the judgment they brought against God's people.

God will always vindicate His righteous character: "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Hab. 2:14).

We should stop asking where God is in any situation - but let the world be silent and be humbled before Him. We are made righteous by believing (Romans 5:19). And we live by faith:

".... the righteous will live by his faith" (Hab. 2:4).

The above verse of Scripture is the most significant in the entire Bible. It is quoted three times in the New Testament - Roman 1:17, Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38.